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Chapta 14 | |
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Da Raiders From Da Shadows Chapta 14 |
“Thuggrim wait.” Hazug said when he saw the gates begin to open and he glanced down at his rifle, checking that it was ready for use. From out of the gate a group orks marched, their dark clothing marked them out as Goffs; tough and well disciplined they were formidable fighters. Aside from one that was using both hands to carry an anti-vehicle rocket launcher they all carried shields similar to the ones Hazug had seen the battling orks using earlier. At the head of the group was the nob that Hazug had seen, bow also carrying a shield in addition to the power claw that he held up. “Dat dare
boss?” Drazzok asked. “Thuggrim,” Drazzok said, “If dares trouble, kill da big ‘un first.” “Yes oh great one.” Thuggrim replied and he too checked his rifle. “Dat’s close enough.” Hazug called out as the Goffs got closer. With a wave of his power claw, Gorgoga halted his troops. They formed a line just in front of him and crouched down, placing their shields next one another so they formed a continuous line of thick metal. Each ork stared at the three newcomers through a hole in his shield while Gorgoga and the rocket armed ork just stood back and looked over it. Hazug was impressed. “Wotcha want?” Gorgoga yelled. “Da great Drazzok is ‘ere.” Thuggrim shouted back, “Make way for ‘im!” “I don’t know ‘im. Wot does ‘e want?” “’E wants-“ Thuggrim began before stopped abruptly. He turned around and looked at Drazzok, “Wot does we want master?” Drazzok looked at Hazug. “We wants somewhere we can fix up our wagons and our lads.” Hazug said. Thuggrim
nodded and looked back towards the line of Goffs. “Never mind.” Hazug said, putting a hand on Thuggrim’s shoulder and stepping past him. “We needs parts for our wagons and a dok for our lads.” He shouted. “Ya is a git lover! ‘Ow many ya got with ya?” Gorgoga shouted out. “Just two.” Hazug shouted, “One’s mine.” “And da other?” “Dunno. Dey aint no trouble.” “One of ‘em can cook good.” Drazzok shouted, “Does ya like pies?” When the three
vehicles were brought within the settlement Gorgoga looked up at
Mayleth. “Yeah. Dey ‘ad a wagon and some warbikes.” Hazug replied, “Dat’s ‘ow Two Heads’ got shot up.” “So wot’s dis got to do with me?” Gorgoga asked. “I can’t leave ‘er ‘angin’ from da back of me truck.” Hazug said, “I needs somethin’ to ‘old ‘er in.” “I might just be able to ‘elp ya dare.” Gorgoga replied, “Follow me.” Both of them clutching burning torches, the Goff nob led Hazug to a cluster of ramshackle structures away from the parts of the settlement still in use. The structures were clearly of human build, but the orks had not seen fit to maintain them. Instead they seemed to just mark out where they dumped their rubbish and Hazug could see assorted snotlings and small squigs picking over what was there. However, Gorgoga actually led Hazug to one of the buildings themselves and after sticking his torch into a pile of rubbish he gave the door a shove. “’Ang on, it’s a bit stiff.” He said as he tried it again. Then he turned around and said, “Give us an ‘and would ya?” Hazug nodded and the two ork nobs leant against the door. “Sod dis.” Gorgoga said, “Stand back.” And he activated his power claw. Hazug stepped back rapidly and watched as Gorgoga swung the claw. There was a flash as the energy field surrounding the claw reacted to the impact with the door and the barrier shattered. Gorgoga shut down his weapon and picked up the torch. “Never needed dat door any ‘ow.” The Goff said as he strode inside. Hazug followed him and lifted his torch above his head. The interior of the structure was piled high with bones. Human bones. “Where did dese come from?” Hazug asked. “Wasn’t us.” Gorgoga replied, “At least not while I’ve bin ‘ere. From wot I ‘eard from da lads wot came before me most of ‘em was ‘ere when we arrived on dis planet. Da gits wot ruled da place ‘ad a bunch of other gits ‘ere as slaves. Most of da bones come from dem what died before da lads got ‘ere. Most of da others is from dem wot was guardin’ da place and didn’t run off before da lads got ‘ere.” “Most?” Hazug asked. “Well I reckon dat dare was still some gits left after us orks took over, but dey is long dead now.” “So wot’s dis got to do with keepin’ da eldar locked up?” “Over ‘ere.” Gorgoga said, walking further into the building, waving his power claw to Hazug and beckoning him to follow. Hazug followed him to a pile of metal cages. Each of the cages was shaped as if a human body had been laid down on the ground and a line drawn around it. An average sized human, or eldar for that matter, standing inside one would be unable to move. “I ‘eard dat dare was a bunch of dese things ‘angin’ on chains from towers when da gits ran da place.” Gorgoga explained, “Dey stuck dare workers in ‘em and ‘ung ‘em up. Punishment I suppose. Though why dey didn’t just give ‘em a good kickin’ beats me.” “So why aint dey bin used for ought?” Hazug asked as he approached the cages. “Somethin’
about da metal.” Gorgoga said, “It looks a bit like steel but it aint. Its
dead light and bends real easy when ya ‘it it.” “Ya’ve ‘eard of it? Da meks called it da same thing. Said it was useful for fightas and bombas, but only in sheets. So is dey any good to ya?” “Yeah, I reckon one of dese’ll do, “ Hazug said standing back up, “and since ya aint used ‘em in thirty years I don’t expect ya’ll want payin’.” “Squig crap!” Gorgoga snapped, “Dey is five teeth a piece. Three for ten.” “I only needs one.” Hazug said, “One cage, one tooth.” Gorgoga stood and stared at Hazug. It was difficult to gauge his expression behind his armoured mask, but Hazug guessed that he was frowning. “I could always get Batrug to rig somethin’ up.” Hazug said, “’E’s on a fixed fee.” “Go on den.” Gorgoga said, “One tooth. But ya is carryin’ it back yaself.” Carrying the cage back to the truck turned out to be easy. Not only was the aluminium that it was built of much lighter than the iron or steel that orks preferred but it was also made of hollow tubes instead of solid bars. Hazug believed that if he cut one away he could have bent it with his bare hands. With the Evil Suns all off searching for the materials necessary to repair the rhino and Drazzok eschewing all physical labour, Hazug had to rely on just Thuggrim and Ratish to help him with Mayleth. They cut her down from the truck and placed her in cage, hammering short metal bolts into rings built into the cage where its front and back halves joined. Then as the eldar screamed insults at them they stood back. “Right den,” Hazug said, “she aint getting’ out of dat.” Then he looked down at Ratish, “She’s mine. Mark ‘er.” “Wot master want stupid pansy for?” “I’ll find somethin’ for ‘er to do. Just get some ink and do it.” Lyanil kept low as she reached the top of the hill. From the noise and the light given off into the night sky she knew that a large population of orks was on the other side. She looked down into the valley and observed the settlement from her vantage point. As a species all eldar had excellent night vision, far superior to both humans and orks. Therefore, even though the settlement was only illuminated in isolated places by variously sized bonfires she could still make out much of what was in the shadows between the structures. In particular, the trio of vehicles that she had tracked to this place. Lyanil smiled then crawled closer. The wall surrounding the settlement was a significant obstacle to Lyanil. As far as she could tell there was only a single large gate that was heavily guarded. There were several places where trees and rocky outcrops came close enough to the wall that Lyanil could jump from them and onto the wall, but with orks patrolling the ramparts the chances of discovery were too great. She needed a more subtle way in. Then a movement caught her eye and Lyanil halted suddenly. Beside the wall a hedge was swaying in a manner that was not natural. As Lyanil watched a gretchin emerged from it. Then another and finally a third. The three creatures walked away from the wall to where Lyanil could see mushrooms growing. This particular patch of fungi appeared mundane to the eldar, the growths that indicated the presence of hatching pods for the orkoid species were much larger. As Lyanil watched one of the gretchin produced a sack and the other two began to gather the mushrooms. Again she smiled. The sack had been empty when the gretchin emerged from the bush, which probably meant that there was a way under the wall concealed there. Of course it may be guarded and even a single gretchin could raise the alarm. Lyanil needed to know. Moving silently on all fours she approached the gretchin, making sure to keep out of sight. She halted suddenly when she saw the gretchin with the sack straighten his stance and look around. Had she been detected? The gretchin suddenly dropped the sack and began to leap around, flailing his arms about wildly and screaming as he batted at whatever nocturnal creature was fluttering around him. The other two gretchin stopped what they were doing and stared at their companion, laughing. Lyanil threw a glance towards the wall where she saw that the nearest of the ork sentries had not reacted at all. That knowledge would be useful. Lyanil drew her splinter pistol and waited for the gretchin to all get back to the task of gathering mushrooms before she crept closer. She fired from point blank range, sending a poisoned sliver of crystal into the gretchin with the sack. The shot passed through the back of his head and was a clean kill. Then, before the dead gretchin’s body could even hit the ground she fired again and hit one of the other to in his stomach. To finish she leapt through the air and landed next to the final gretchin. The second gretchin squealed in pain as the toxins from the splinter round spread though his system. Before the third could shout out a warning Lyanil clamped a hand over his mouth and pushed him to the ground with her pistol pressed against his head. “I will kill you if you are not of use to me or you try to raise the alarm.” Lyanil said, giving her translator a chance to relay her words in orkish before she removed her hand from over the gretchin’s mouth. “Wotcha want?” the gretchin asked. “Tell me about your way under the wall.” “Don’t know wotcha talkin’ about.” Lyanil looked over at where the second gretchin now lay silent in death. “Do you want to die like him?” she asked. “It’s a-,” the
gretchin blurted out before Lyanil clamped her hand back over his
mouth. “It’s a tunnel.” The gretchin whispered. “To where exactly?” “Just under da wall.” “Is there a barrier? Or a guard?” “No. No guards. Just an ‘ole.” Lyanil looked the gretchin in the eyes. She could not be certain that the creature was telling the truth, but she had no choice but to trust his information. Then she shot him in the head. She took one last look towards the guards that were pacing up and down on the wall and then she began to make her way towards the entrance to the tunnel. When she found the entrance, Lyanil was not impressed with what she saw. It seemed that someone, presumably gretchin, had over time just scraped away the dirt from under a short section of the fort’s defensive wall. The tunnel was irregular in shape and there was no structural reinforcement of any sort. But given that it was her only way into the fort Lyanil would just have to trust that it would not collapse before she could get through it, locate and obtain the webway portal and then make her exit. Though possessing the slim build typical of eldar, Lyanil still found it a tight squeeze as she dragged herself along the tunnel and more than once she had to use her dagger to chip away at the tunnel wall to widen it enough for her to pass. Approaching the end of the tunnel, the succubus paused and listened. She knew that at the moment she emerged she would be very vulnerable to attack, so she was keen to make sure that the way was clear when she did so. All she could hear was the rhythmic pounding of machinery in the distance. Greenskins tended to be a noisy collection of species, but if there were a small number nearby then Lyanil doubted that she could hear them over the sound of their machines. Returning her dagger to its sheath she instead drew her pistol and crawled forwards. If there were orks or gretchin waiting for her outside the tunnel, they would not find her totally defenceless. As it was there was no one waiting to ambush Lyanil and the succubus crawled free of the tunnel without opposition. Keeping her pistol ready, she drew her dagger also and shook the dirt from it. She looked closely at the blade and was disappointed to see that the toxins normally coating it seemed to have been wiped off in the tunnel. She returned the weapon to its sheath momentarily to allow a fresh coat of poison to be applied before removing it again. This time the weapon glistened slightly and, deciding that she was as ready as she could be Lyanil made her way towards the ork vehicles as stealthily as she could. Two orks guarded the vehicles. Lyanil killed the first with a pistol shot to the back of his head. The sound of the shot was just enough to attract the attention of the second guard and as he spun around and raised his crude rifle Lyanil extended a leg sideways and upwards, delivering a sharp kick to the ork’s face. There was a ‘crunch’ as soon as Lyanil’s heel struck the guard’s nose and it collapsed. With fragments of bone and cartilage driven back into his brain the guard fell to the floor alongside his colleague. Lyanil swiftly moved into the darkness beside the largest of the three vehicles and waited to see if there were any more orks nearby. No more guards came rushing to see hat had become of these two but Lyanil’s delicate hearing did pick up the sound of someone breathing. Keeping as close to the ork vehicle as she could, Lyanil crept towards the sound of breathing. It did not sound like the deep breaths taken by ork or even the more rapid ones of their gretchin slave workers. Lyanil considered the possibility that it was a human slave instead until she peered around the bulk of the large vehicle at one of the lighter ones. There in a cage standing behind it she saw Mayleth and a smile spread across Lyanil’s face. “Hekatrix Mayleth.” Lyanil whispered, creeping up behind her caged subordinate, “Taking a rest are we?” “Lyanil?” Mayleth whispered back as she tried to turn her head within the cage. “It is I sister. You have some explaining to do.” “The beasts were too many and too strong. One of their leaders caged me. Let me out.” “What about the portal?” “The beasts still have it. The one that dresses in the style of the mon keigh primitives.” “I see and where is it?” “I don’t know. The beasts that make their home here seem to have offered them accommodation for the night. But there are guards, beware-“ “The guards are dead. Beast are no match for me sister. I wish I could say the same about you.” “Succubus, release me. This cage is held shut with only-“ “Ah,” Lyanil interrupted and through the bars of the cage she poked Mayleth’s shoulder with the muzzle of her pistol, “I see the beasts have claimed you as their own.” “What?” Mayleth asked. She had felt the gretchin scraping at her skin, but because of the limitations of the cage she had no idea what he had done to her. “Perhaps they intend to breed form you. Give you to one their mon keigh males for his pleasure.” “Lyanil release me.” Mayleth said and she shook her body against the cage. Lyanil moved around the cage and looked Mayleth in the eyes as she considered what to do. She could shot her of course, or drive her dagger between the bars to Mayleth’s heart. But those would be quick ends. Perhaps a tiny scrape of her blade against one of Mayleth’s toes, not enough to break the skin but enough to allow some poison to soak its way in. Her death would be weeks of agony. “Lyanil.” Mayleth repeated. “Hush sister.” Lyanil replied, “I am here to recover what you could not. You belong to the beasts now. I will take from them only what is ours, not theirs. Enjoy yourself Mayleth. Who knows, you may be lucky to get an attentive lover from amongst the mon keigh.” And Lyanil ran off into the darkness. “Lyanil curse you!” Mayleth screamed at the top of her voice, “I will flay you for this!” |
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